Paire Angst
by everybodysmile
Summary: when peter gets yet another girlfriend claire decides she has had enough and confronts him about how she feels. this is my first paire fanfic so feel free to give as much constructive critism as possible so i can improve : also I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – The Confession

**Chapter 1 – The Confession**

Claire happily walked through snow-covered streets. Her curls bounced on her white coat as she carried bags full of winter food cravings. When she looked up at the apartment building, she smiled to herself, knowing that she had created a perfect plan to spend some much-needed time with Peter.

As Claire opened the door she felt the gentle warmth that always greeted her. She took off her coat and happily shouted: "Peter, I'm home." There was no response. Usually Peter would hear her or even be there waiting with a smile. But no, he hadn't come.

Claire had a feeling she knew where he was, but she hoped that she was wrong.

Feeling just a little disappointed and a tad anxious, Claire put the bags of groceries on the kitchen bench and began to unpack and store everything. She was putting some margarine in the fridge when she heard someone giggling from a nearby room. Claire immediately stopped what she was doing and quickly turned her head towards the voice, a female voice.

Claire slammed the fridge door. "No!" she breathed as she looked up at the ceiling with a sigh.

"No, this can't be happening."

Claire paced for a few seconds before deciding that she couldn't take it any longer, quickly marching into the living room.

"Hey Peter!" she exclaimed as she saw him sitting next to a gorgeous brunette.

"Oh hey Natalie."

Her greeting was pleasant, concealing her true feelings.

"Hey cheerleader," the brunette replied.

Claire tried to continue the conversation. "I'm gonna make some hot chocolate, you guys want one?"

"Nah I better be off I think."

Natalie leaned over a little to grab a small bag, giving Peter a good look down her top, and then she got off the couch, walking sexily a few steps away then turning back to Peter.

"Nice seeing you again Pete," she said in a voice, which could have made Claire puke.

She briefly smiled at Claire before walking towards the front door. Peter got up and followed her. Claire rolled her eyes.

"I'll come with you."

Natalie laughed and shook her head. "Pete, you know I am just down the corridor…"

Claire decided not to listen to the rest of Natalie's farewell. About to explode with jealously she dived on Peter's bed sinking into his pillow and tightly hugging it. She wanted to be with him so desperately, but clutching his pillow was as close as she could get.

Claire lay there for only a few moments before she saw Peter's shadow cast on the floor.

"Hey thanks for the… Claire are you OK?"

Claire didn't answer him or even move. Peter sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, looking concerned.

"Claire what's wrong?" he asked her softly.

She looked up at Peter, and then sat up on the bed opposite him.

"Peter, I've barely talked to you or even seen you this week! I don't want you to be with Natalie so much."

Peter looked puzzled. "Claire I don't under--"

"God Peter are you blind?!"

Claire had finally lost it; she stood up and shook her hands, yelling in frustration.

"Natalie doesn't love you, she never will!"

There was an awkward silence. Peter didn't respond. Claire spoke softy, tears welling in her eyes.

"The girl that does, she--" Claire looked down briefly and sighed. "She's standing right in front of you."

Claire stood with both arms out from her sides. Peter just looked at her like a stunned mullet. It was obvious that he was in a state of shock. Claire shook her head and quickly darted past Peter towards the door, trying to hide her pain.

"I-I'm going to go for a walk," she told him. "I'll be back soon."

Peter stood up and walked out of the room calling out to Claire as he saw her coat sweep around the door. She didn't respond.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – The Dilemma Chapter 2 – The Dilemma

Claire had left and Peter felt terrible. He ran after her.

However after he was just getting out the door to go sprint down the hallway, he realised that she wanted to be alone right now, and so he went back to his apartment. After pacing around for a while Peter decided to hover high above the street below so he could see how Claire was. A few minutes later he noticed walk away with her head down, then run for a few metres, before breaking down in tears, kneeling in the middle of the footpath.

Even though she was unbreakable, Peter knew that he couldn't leave her there like that, not in that vulnerable state. He pictured Hiro Nakamura in his mind, and in a few seconds he was teleporting Claire to her room. She struggled fiercely, trying to pull free from him.

"Claire stop!"

But she kept hitting him, pounding his chest with her fists. Peter reluctantly grabbed both of her arms so she would listen. Defeated, Claire stopped and looked into his kind brown eyes as her wrists were held up beside her by Peter to prevent another strike. Their faces were close.

"You need to stay here," he said softly. She relented, and he let go of her wrists and walked away from her.

This time it was Claire who just stared, transfixed on Peter, turning her head to let her gaze follow him as he left, gently shutting the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – The Anxiety

**Chapter 3 – The Anxiety  
**

The next morning Claire continued to stay in her room, uncertain of what she should do. She felt so embarrassed about what had happened the previous day that she just lay in her bed thinking for a while. She knew that she needed to talk to Peter, but she felt so incredibly ashamed at how she had behaved.

"Why the hell did I hit him? A three year old hits people," she thought to herself. "How could I be so immature, so stupid!"

After a while Claire decided that she couldn't take it any longer, she had to get the awkwardness over and done with. Still in her PJ's and knowing that she had bed hair, she took a deep breath, opened the door and silently walked toward the kitchen.

Peter was standing at the bench, reading a newspaper. Claire noticed that he had bed hair as well and smiled.

"Damn he looks hot," she thought to herself.

Peter had heard that but he wasn't going to tell Claire that he had been reading her mind. "There's a new pack of Coco Pops in the cupboard if you're hungry," he said kindly without looking up.

Claire was a little surprised that Peter had known she was there, but warmly thanked him and poured herself a bowl. After she ate a few mouthfuls she looked at a clock on the wall and shrieked.

"Oh my God I was supposed to be at Bec's house a hour ago!"

"Don't worry, I can take you there," Peter said calmly.

Claire raced into her room, frantically putting on some clothes, then quickly neatened her hair and grabbed a handbag as she ran back out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to grab Peter's car keys.

"Peter, you're not dressed!"

"Don't need to be."

He walked up to her and held her in a warm embrace. A second later they were at the front door of Bec's house. They continued to stay in each other's arms for a few moments, but even burying her head in Peter's chest didn't make Claire feel comfortable.

Just yesterday Peter had traveled with her this way, but it had been under very different circumstances. She had been violent and her behaviour had been positively that of a person half her age or less. She had never cared about a man so much as the one that held her and she needed to apologise. She just had to say something, inside she was going insane.

"Peter I'm so sorry about yesterday I-I really didn't mean to get all violent, I'm never like that, never!" She began to sob into Peter's shirt.

"It's OK," he said gently, combing through her hair as she hugged him tightly. "I can heal just like you remember. See, not a scratch." He showed Claire one of his arms. Claire smiled up at Peter weakly and he gently brushed the tears off her face.

"I'll see you when you get back OK?"

Claire smiled. "Yeah, I'll see you then."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – The Solution

**Chapter 4 – The Solution**

Claire did manage to get some of her assignment with Bec done, but all morning and afternoon she could only think of Peter and how nicely and well, normally he had treated her. He made her feel that everything was OK and that nothing had actually happened between them.

Usually this would have really angered Claire because she hated people that pretended that everything was 'fine and dandy' but she actually felt rather content and extremely grateful because she had felt enormously embarrassed about how she had acted, and she didn't know how, but Peter had somehow managed to erase much of the awkwardness that was likely to have occurred.

She walked back to the apartment in good spirits, not minding how long the journey would take because she had Peter to fill her thoughts. She had decided that although having Peter as her boyfriend would be the greatest thing in the world, having him as a friend was much better than not having him at all.

As she walked down the corridor a delicious smell filled her inside. Peter was cooking, and whatever it was, it smell good. After fiddling with her keys for a while she entered the apartment and just had to stand in the doorway for a moment to fully breathe in that wonderful aroma, closing her eyes and smiling.

"Hey you!" she exclaimed as she saw Peter fiddling with the oven.

"Hey," he replied solemnly.

Claire knew that something was up.

"Pete are you OK?" she asked with exploring eyes.

There was a short pause before Peter scoffed. "You were right about Natalie, she didn't even look upset after we broke up this afternoon."

Claire barely managed not to let out a smile. "You broke up with her?"

"Yeah, but it's OK. I've got you."

Claire gave Peter a warm hug. The oven began to beep.

"Ooh pizza's ready!" Peter exclaimed as he leapt toward the oven.

"You made pizza for me?" Claire asked teasingly.

"Hmm maybe," Peter replied with a smile.

That night Peter and Claire happily chatted for hours, grabbing two bowls of ice cream and plonking themselves on the couch to watch a bit of TV. Claire had ownership of the remote for most of the night but Peter had finally had enough of Claire's talk about how adorable Logan and Veronica were on Veronica Mars and the whole height difference thing being kinda cute etc so when Claire was off-guard he snatched the remote and changed the channel to CSI: New York.

"Hey!" she tried to grab the remote, but Peter had longer arms and the remote was out of her reach over the arms of the couch. Claire laughed as Peter teased her and eventually Claire ended up lying down on top of Peter, their faces closer than they had ever been. They stared intently at one another and then Claire spoke with worried eyes.

"You planned this didn't you?"

"Possibly," Peter replied with a smirk.

Claire sat up and sighed. "I don't wanna be you rebound girl Peter, I'm sorry." She began to move off the couch.

Peter quickly took hold of her hand and sat up so he was close to Claire again. She was frozen. He hesitantly stroked her cheek. And Claire closed her eyes as she felt his gentle touch. He could tell that she was scared.

"Claire, you could never be just a rebound girl. You mean everything to me, absolutely everything" he whispered.

Claire realised that Peter was being honest and slowly moved closer to him exploring Peter's face with her fingertips. "I love you," she whispered, as she arched up to kiss him.


End file.
